Vehicle heater



July 17; 1934- A. J. ROGGENBAUER 1,966,522

VEHICLE HEATER I Filed April, 2, 1931 Patented July 17, 1934 VEHICLE HEATER Alexander J. Roggenbauer, Milwaukee, Wis. I Application April 2, 1931, Serial No. 527,171

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in vehicle heaters for heating the interior of a motor vehicle body.

One of the objects of the present invention is 6 the provision of an improved type of heater which combines means for receiving the heat from the exhaust manifold and the radiator of a motor vehicle and conveying the same to the interior of the body of the vehicle whereby, when the motor is in operation, air will be taken in through the radiator, conducted through a conduit arranged adjacent the exhaust manifold so that fresh air taken in at the front of the vehicle will be heated and then conveyed to the interior of the body of the vehicle.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved type of heater which can be quickly and readily placed in position and includes means for initially drawing the air through the conduit into the body of the vehicle, and wherein the supply of air can be quickly and easily cut off whenever desired.

A further object of the present invention is to utilize the heat from the radiator, as well as the heat from the exhaust manifold for heating fresh air which is drawn into the body of the vehicle through the medium of a suction fan during the initial operation of the device or when the vehicle is standing still, and then cutting off the suction fan, while the vehicle is moving, whereby the draft created through the movement of the vehicle will cause the air to pass inwardly around the pipes of the radiator through a conduit arranged in close proximity to the exhaust manifold for heating the air and then directing the same into the interior of' the vehicle body.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the above character which includes a cut off valve wherein the supply of heated air to the interior of the vehicle may be readily cut off whenever desired and can be opened up at the will of the operator.

with the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in-the novel features of construction, the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in the claim and shown in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation illustrating the application of my improved heater;

Figure 2 is a detailed section approximately on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, with the conducting conduit removed;

Figure 3 is a detailed section approximately on the line 33 of Figure 1, with parts of the device eliminated;

Figure 4 is a detailed longitudinal section through the valve housing showing the valve in a closed position for cutting off the-heated air from the interior of the vehicle; and,

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a suction fan with parts broken away and illustrated in cross section.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, it will be noted that I have illustrated the usual type of motor indicated at 1, enclosed within the hood 2. The motor is arranged adjacent the front wall 3 of the vehicle body and positioned above the front wall is the usual instrument board 4.

The motor 1 includes the exhaust manifold 5 and at the front of the hood 2, the usual type of radiator 6 is indicated.

In the construction of a heater of this type, it 76 is preferable to provide means for obtaining an indirect draft of fresh air which first passes in and around the tubes of a radiator before being directed into the conduit 7. For this purpose I provide a front plate 8 arranged directly in front of the expanded or funnel-shaped mouth 9 having a sleeve 10 to which one end of the conductor 7 is connected. The plate 8 is retainedin position by means of suitable bolts 11 passing through the plate and through the laterally disposed 86 flanges 12 on the mouth portion 9.

Arranged over the exhaust manifold 5 and connected thereto by means of the clamping plates 13 and the bolts 14 is a U-shaped hood 15, the lower side edges of which embrace the side por- '90 tions of the manifold, as illustrated in Figure 3, thus providing an elongated chamber 16 into which the air from conduit 7 passes. It will be noted that the air entering the chamber 16 will be brought into direct contact with the manifold 96 5, so that this air will be thoroughly heated before passing out through the connecting pipe 17 to the valve housing 18. The valve housing 18 is connected by means of a short pipe 19 to the fan housing 20 through the medium of a sleeve 21 which leads into the central part of the housing 20.

Arranged within. the housing 20 is a blower fan 22 and leading out from the housing 20 is the angular outlet 23 which connects with the conduit 24. The outer end of this conduit is provided with a funnel-shaped discharge mount 25, supported from the lower edge of the instrument board 4, as indicated at Figure 1.

Attention is directed to the fact that while this discharge mouth is illustrated as supported from the instrument board, it may be located in any other convenient place at the front of the vehicle, so that the heated air being discharged there- 5 from will be directed into the body of the vehicle.

" an arm 31. This arm 31 is connected to a pull cord 32 attached to the inner end of a slidable rod 33. The rod 33 is slidably mounted within a tube 34 carried by the instrument board and has a thumb piece 35 at its outer end, whereby the rod 33 may be readily reciprocated within the tube 34 for changing the relative position of the valve plate 29.

Normally, the valve plate 29 is retained in the position shown in Figure 4 by means of acoil spring 36, one end of which is attached to the outer end of arm 31, while the other end is attached to a bracket 3'7 carried by the valve housing. Therefore, when it is desired to open communication between the chamber 16 and the conduit 24, the rod 33 is pulled outwardly to the position shown in Figure 1, thus opening the valve against the tension of spring 36.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that when the motor is first started, the initial heat- .ing of the air will be obtained from the exhaust manifold 5 and it will be necessary to operate the blower fan 22 for drawing the heated air from the chamber 16, through the conduit 24 and out through the mouth portion 25. However, as soon as the motor is warmed up and the tubes in the radiator become heated, the air drawn in through the front of the radiator around the tubes will also become heated and the fresh air is initially heated before being taken into the chamber 16, thus the fresh, heated air drawn into the chamber 16 will be again heated by the heat from the exhaust manifold 5 before it passes through the valve housing 18 and into the fan housing 20 where the air will be directed out through the conduit 24 and the mouth 25;

Attention is directed to the fact that while the car is at a standstill, it may be necessary to operate the blower fan 22 in order to draw suflicient heat into the body of the vehicle.

Another feature of this invention is the fact that should the radiator become frozen and the.

motor be started, sufficient heat from the exhaust manifold 5 will heat the air in chamber 16 and this heated air will rise out through the conduit 7 into the mouth 9 and thence between the tubes of the radiator so as to thaw out the frozen radiator while the motor is being operated at a slow rate of speed.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided a simple and inexpensive heater whereby the heat is not only utilized from the exhaust manifold, but the heat of the hot water in the radiator tubes is also utilized for heating the fresh air drawn into the chamber 16 before being discharged into the body of the vehicle, thus increasing the heating facilities which in turn will increase the temperature of the air being drawn in through the conduit 24. The device is of such construction that it can be quickly and readily installed in practically all makes of motor vehicles and will increase the riding comfort of such vehicles during the winter months.

I claim:

A heater for the body of automobiles comprising a hood for connection with the exhaust manifold of an internal combustion engine to provide an air heating chamber, a conduit connected to one end of, the chamber and having a mouth portion arranged at one side of a motor vehicle radiator, a discharge conduit connected to the other .end of the hood, and a baflie plate carried by the radiator and arranged in front of the mouth of the first conduit.

ALEXANDER J ROGGENBAUER. 

